War on Terrorism

Friday, July 15, 2016

Joseph Hassan Farrokh, 29, of Woodbridge, Virginia, was
sentenced today to 102 months in prison for attempting to provide material
support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a
designated foreign terrorist organization.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P.
Carlin, U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia and
Assistant Director in Charge Paul M. Abbate of the FBI’s Washington Field
Office made the announcement

“With this sentence, Joseph Hassan Farrokh will be held
accountable for attempting to travel overseas to join ISIL and to provide
material support to the designated terrorist organization,” said Assistant
Attorney General Carlin.“The National
Security Division’s highest priority is countering terrorist threats, and we
will continue to work to stem the flow of foreign fighters abroad and bring to
justice those who attempt to provide material support to designated foreign
terrorist organizations.”

“Farrokh’s state of mind and conduct in this case were
egregious and go to the heart of the safety of our community and the nation,”
said U.S. Attorney Boente.“This office
will continue to pursue those that travel to fight against the United States
and our allies, as well as those individuals that recruit others on behalf of
ISIL in the homeland.”

“Joseph Farrokh admitted to attempting to travel to Syria to
join and fight with ISIL in support of its oppressive, violent and criminal
agenda,” said Assistant Director in Charge Abbate.“Thanks to the relentless work of agents,
analysts and prosecutors, together with the essential contributions of our
partners in the Joint Terrorism Task Force, we were able to disrupt those plans
and bring him to justice.The FBI’s
highest priority remains preventing terrorist attacks and combating terrorism
here in the U.S. and around world.”

U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga of the Eastern
District of Virginia imposed today’s sentence and also ordered Farrokh to serve
10 years of supervised release.

According to the statement of facts filed with the plea
agreement, Farrokh conspired with Mahmoud Amin Elhassan, 25, also of
Woodbridge, to travel from the United States to Syria in order to fight with
ISIL.As part of their plan, Farrokh
would travel first, followed by Elhassan at a later date.Farrokh and Elhassan spoke in detail about
their potential travel, including discussing the different routes each would
take to travel to Syria.Farrokh also
provided $600 to Elhassan to aid in Elhassan’s future travel to Syria.Both men spoke openly with each other about
supporting ISIL and supporting violent jihad and on Oct. 2, 2015, Farrokh
stated that he had no patience and wanted to go right away and “chop their heads.”

According to the statement of facts, in an effort to conceal
their plans to support ISIL, Farrokh and Elhassan communicated using apps they
believed were safe from law enforcement detection.In the summer of 2015, Farrokh and Elhassan
talked more seriously about going to join ISIL and concluded that they needed
someone to help them do so.Elhassan
contacted like-minded people all over the world and the men pursued two
separate plans to travel to Syria to join ISIL, but neither plan worked out.

According to the statement of facts, Farrokh and Elhassan
conspired with other persons they believed would help facilitate their travel
to Syria.Over the course of many
meetings, the men discussed in detail their travel plans and efforts to avoid
law enforcement detection, including Farrokh shaving his beard and flying out
of Richmond International Airport, where they believed there would be less
security.Farrokh and Elhassan agreed
that Farrokh should tell his family that he intended to travel to Saudi Arabia
to study.

According to the statement of facts, on Jan. 15, 2016,
Elhassan picked up Farrokh at his home in Woodbridge and drove him to a
location approximately one mile from the Richmond airport.Farrokh then took a cab to the airport,
checked in for his flight, cleared security and was arrested as he was
approaching his departure gate.

The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force investigated the
case.Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gordon D.
Kromberg and Dennis M. Fitzpatrick of the Eastern District of Virginia are
prosecuting the case with Trial Attorney D. Andrew Sigler of the National
Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Through
its Flood Apex Program, DHS S&T seeks to apply new technologies and
solutions to the risks posed by flooding: risks that confront individuals,
communities, states and regions.

You are invited to
participate in a Facebook Town Hall on Flood Resilience on Wednesday, July 20,
at 1 p.m.; focus for this session will be on individual decision making, or how
S&T and its partners can help reduce flood fatalities, decrease uninsured
losses and enable better mitigation decisions. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1565220323779122/

Thursday, July 07, 2016

Munir Abdulkader, 21, of West Chester, Ohio, pleaded guilty
to attempting to kill officers and employees of the United States, providing
material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a
designated foreign terrorist organization, and possession of a firearm in
furtherance of a crime of violence.Abdulkader was charged for his plot to kill an employee of a U.S.
military installation and then attack a local police station, all in the
Southern District of Ohio.

The unsealing today of the charges and plea agreement were
announced by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin,
Acting U.S. Attorney Benjamin C. Glassman for the Southern District of Ohio and
Special Agent in Charge Angela Byers of the FBI’s Cincinnati Field Division.

According to the statement of facts admitted by Adbulkader
as part of his guilty plea, beginning in at least July 2014 and continuing into
2015, Abdulkader expressed his support for ISIL on Twitter.From approximately March 2015 to mid-April 2015,
Abdulkader began speaking with a confidential human source (CHS) about his
desire and intention to travel to Syria in order to join ISIL, and then began
making plans and preparations to travel overseas.He secured a passport, saved money for the
trip and researched the necessary logistical details.However, in approximately late April 2015,
Abdulkader expressed concerns about his ability to travel and postponed his
original departure date of approximately May 2, 2015.

In May 2015, Abdulkader was in communication with one or
more individuals located overseas who he understood were members of ISIL.One of the individuals was a member of ISIL
identified as Junaid Hussein.Through
these communications, Hussein directed and encouraged Abdulkader to plan and
execute a violent attack within the United States.Abdulkader communicated with Hussein and the
CHS about a plan to kill an identified military employee on account of his
position with the U.S. government.The
plan included abducting the employee at the employee’s home and filming the
execution.After killing the employee,
Abdulkader planned to perpetrate a violent attack on a police station in the
Southern District of Ohio using firearms and Molotov cocktails.

In preparation for the attacks, Abdulkader asked the CHS to
purchase a vest for holding ammunition.On or about May 18, 2015, Abdulkader conducted surveillance on a police
station in the Southern District of Ohio.On or about May 20, 2015, Abdulkader went to a shooting range, learned
how to operate certain firearms and practiced shooting the firearms.Abdulkader also negotiated the purchase of a
firearm, an AK-47 assault rifle.On May
21, 2015, in a controlled purchase, Abdulkader bought the AK-47 assault rifle
and was subsequently arrested.

Abdulkader was charged by complaint on May 22, 2015.An information was filed against Abdulkader
on March 2, 2016, and he pleaded guilty to the three charges in the information
on March 24, 2016, before U.S. District Judge Michael R. Barrett of the Southern
District of Ohio.

Attempted murder of government employees and officials
carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.Material support of a foreign terrorist
organization carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.Possession of a firearm in furtherance of an
attempted crime of violence carries a mandatory sentence of five years in
prison.

Assistant Attorney General Carlin and Acting U.S. Attorney
Glassman commended the investigation of this case by the JTTF.The case is being prosecuted by Assistant
U.S. Attorney Tim Mangan and Trial Attorney Michael Dittoe of the National
Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.